1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a store complex checkout apparatus, transaction processing method and program for product checkout at a plurality of stores set up at the same location such as marketplace and shopping mall, and more particularly to a store complex checkout apparatus, transaction processing method and program allowing for product checkout at any stores as long as they are at the same location.
2. Description of the Related Arts
Marketplaces and shopping malls—areas accommodating a number of retail stores in a modern and well-equipped facility—have become pervasive in recent years, allowing enjoyment of shopping and various entertainments at the same time and drawing the spotlight due to its customer gathering power. As a product checkout system in such a store complex, each store has its own POS system installed, handling checkout of product purchases with a POS terminal. While product is labeled in the conventional POS system with bar codes that are read by a barcode reader for checkout processing, recent years have seen a quantum leap in the amount of storable information, putting the use of wireless tag, capable of being made into a microchip, already underway and allowing fast product checkout through information readout from the wireless tag by simply placing product on a counter, etc. near the POS terminal (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication Nos. 1998-162245, 2002-133518 and 2000-155825).
In checkout processing for store complex using the conventional wireless tag, however, product of a certain store must always be checked out by the POS terminal of that store, resulting in a situation where, depending on various factors such as period of time of the day, season, and popular products, customers wait in a long line at the register in a certain store while there are no waits in other stores—a problem of insufficient customer service in respect of checkout. In such a case, a possible solution may be to check out product at the register in other stores. However, if the same product is priced differently between stores, it is impossible to determine at which price the item should be checked out, making it necessary to change product codes from one store to another and requiring effort and time to build and run the POS system of each store. Additionally, if product is checked out on behalf of other store, sales amounts cannot be accurately calculated unless the product provision store and the checkout store are clear. This requires the operator to confirm whether the product provider is the store or other store, and, if the product provider is other store, access the POS system of other store and check out product, resulting in heavy workload for the operator. Further, while another solution may be to allow all stores to share a single POS system so that checkout processing with a POS terminal can be carried out independently of stores, those stores participating in store complex vary widely, with some stores having their own POS systems built. This makes it difficult to share a POS system among stores.